Archive for April, 2009

Dress A 60s Or 70s Science Fiction Halloween Costume

Monday, April 27th, 2009

During the 1960′s and the 1970′s, TV as well as films have been rich in series that are a large source of inspiration if you are seeking a unique Halloween outfit.

There have been a lot of great and unforgettable TV broadcasts and films such as Dr. Kildare, The Avengers, Space: 1999, The Stepford Wives, and so on, that hailed from those times and it is principally thanks to the fact that they are so memorable that costumes paying homage to some of these series are costumes that seem to be really popular. So, these series are an absolute generator of ideas for anyone who is searching a Halloween costume. But the 1960′s and the 1970′s have been particularly prolific in science fiction accessible to the standard public and particularly to the whole family. Although there were movies earlier in science fiction, the 60′s and the 70′s made science fiction into a household genre and there were two series in particular that made it possible.

Let’s start by the first of these series, created by Gene Roddenberry. Naturally, Star Trek has been super popular for things such as the first interracial kiss and the travel across the galaxy in order to witness life on different planets, but it was also known for the unique costumes worn by the team of the memorable Spaceship Enterprise.

Take the example of being a a Dr Leonard “Bones” Mc Coy from this period of time, you should wear a uniform consisting of a blue sweater, black trousers as well as black boots. This is the kind of costume that anyone would recognize; whether they liked Star Trek or not. Another extremely famous Star Trek character was the “redshirt”; a non-main character that is on a mission with the crew and whose principal purpose is to die within minutes. If you play on the humorous side of the thing, you may decide to have it as your costume for the future Halloween holiday and wear the winning costume at the party!

Star Trek was not the only science fiction series to get its start during these two decades. Indeed, another popular series of movies was created during this time frame: Star Wars. Created by George Lucas and involving Jedi Knights, The Force and some of the more memorable characters to ever come out of science fiction, Star Wars was a totally different style than Star Trek. Here are great examples of Star Wars’ heroes of which you could model your costume after: Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo and Darth Vader. As a second example, there are Imperial stormtroopers, the rebel pilot Wedge Antilles in orange uniform and imperial soldiers in grey uniforms that anyone would recognize straight away.

The sixties and the seventies produced a lot of other science fiction TV or movie series such as The Outer Limits, The Twilight Zone or Village of the Damned for you to choose from, which makes them a great source for Halloween costume ideas.

About the author:
D. Halet is an European history, Holiday season and Tarot cards passionate. She writes articles and creates websites on those subjects. For more Halloween costume ideas for adults information, feel free to visit My Happy Halloween and receive My Happy Halloween guide for free.

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Lesney Matchbox Toy Cars – The Original

Thursday, April 16th, 2009

The devoted collecting of small diecast models all began with one company back in 1953. With a plain conception of a toy car for his little girl, Jack Odell of Lesney Products had started a completely original brand of toys and collectibles that are currently as prominent today as they were over fifty years ago. Unfortunately, Lesney Products, the original, creator of the Matchbox car, is no longer operating but Lesney Series Matchbox toy cars from its day remain earnestly sought after.

From their birth, Lesney Series Matchbox diecast cars dominated the miniature diecast niche. When originally released, they were unmatched. Lesney Products was the inaugural producer to respect the market niche for small diecast cars and nobody had came up with anything yet to fill that need. The first car ever issued was a green and red road roller developed to fit inside a match box so Jack Odell’s daughter could take it to school. An success and using their clever matchbox marketing, 2 more cars were introduced. Those were a cement mixer and dump truck. With these three scale replicas, a new age sprung about slingshoting Lesney Products to the top of toy production. The series was quickly enlarged to become established as the 1-75 Lesney Series Matchbox cars.

At this time in their chronicles, Lesney Series Matchbox cars were being offered by a business known as Moko to promote the Moko Lesney Series. All of this thrived to become the golden days of British diecast. The three world players each had market share and were money making. They were doing great and would play off each other on advancements in their advancements. They were contrasted enough from each another that they were not in dead competition so it appeared all was good and none of these companies could do wrong.

Lesney Series Matchbox cars quickly ran into forthright competition from the US when Mattel released their models of Hot Wheels cars. Even though Hot Wheels cars were often dream vehicles and not reproductions like Lesney offered, they were colorful, faster, and had a operating suspension. Their wheels allowed them to roll faster on tracks and hard exteriors. Lesney responded as quickly as they could but it wasn’t fast enough. In only two short years, Lesney had surrendered their United States hold on sales. Soon, the United Kingdon followed. They slowly recovered for a short time in the mid-70’s but by the end of the decade they were in serious financial concerns. Lesney went bankrupt in June, 1982. As a result, the cars manufactured before this become much desired after collectibles and still are today.

Read more about Lesney Matchbox toy cars and Matchbox Across America cars at http://matchboxcarsforsale.blogspot.com

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